A Few Days Later:

A fast-moving black figure suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing sand to shoot out in a wave around him.

"Hrm, just a little while ago, the land turned to sand, and now I've encountered a strong magical wind and a blinding spell as well......could those brats that escaped my binding have realized I was coming and set up counter measures? But at this level, even though the blindness is troublesome, with my sense of direction, it will only slow me down....How foolish of them!"

The man began to move once again at a pace considerably slower than before, but after a few hours he suddenly slowed.

"Urk, it may not have been the best idea to rely on my sense of direction when I've been blinded, by my calculations I should have reached the school by now if I traveled in a straight line, but it seems I've become lost instead.... Well, now I can only move forward in hope of accidentally finding the school, or getting out of the range of the blindness spell so that I can figure out where I am......"

The man began to walk forward, moving even slower than before.

He had indeed gotten lost, his 'straight line curving to the right the farther he moved. But little did he know that this course would bring him an even greater misfortune than simply getting lost, for it brought him closer to a 'certain person.'

After an indiscernible amount of time walking, the man's ears caught the sound of a distressed young boy's voice.

"Ita! Ouch! Ouch! My head hurts! Why didn't the ears emerge while I was asleep like my tail, Eh!? What do you mean that it's might fault because I have been training instead of sleeping these last days! Training would most definitely not have such a negative outcome!"

The man's thoughts were immediately sent racing, a kid doing training out here? Could it be he was close to the school? But what was all that talk about growing ears and a tail? Eh, whatever, what mattered most was getting to the school. The man walked towards where the boy's voice was coming from.

"Phew~ They've finally finished......Eh, someone else is here!? Ah, it's that strong guy I've been sensing, to think he would get so close while I was distracted....."

Hrm? This kid's talent isn't bad, from his sense, he could tel the kid was only at Comet level, yet the boy sensed his presence as soon as he wasn't distracted.....As expected of a Dagda student, this kid was also probably one of the top level older students of the school....

"Hey kid, why are you out here in the sand and wind with a wide range blindness spell in effect?"

A surprisingly small hand touched his arm, eh? Was the kid small for his age or something?

"There you are! Ah, I was out playing in the forest and when I decided it was time to go home, it was like this so I decided to use it as a training opportunity!"

To be so eager to train at any opportunity, this kid reminded him of his younger self, he would be a good candidate for an apprentice....but if those teachers had told him or any of the other students about the real Dagda, he would be forced to kill them.....Pity.......Reaching out, he carefully found the boy's head and started patting it.

"To be so eager to train, you'll likely grow up to be a strong person like this uncle if you get the chance......Eh? Kid, your head is all wet and sticky!? And something moving is attached to it!"

Was some kind of mind-controlling magical beast attached to the kid's head?

"Ita! Mister, don't try to pull them off! I just grew these ears!"

......Hadn't he heard the kid saying something like that earlier? He cast a cleaning spell and then felt carefully at the strange shapes.

"Ah, so soft.........they really are ears........but why did you grow cat ears kid? Are you some kind of human-form magical beast?"

The kid seemed to purr for a moment, then coughed and pushed at his hand, he reluctantly stopped petting the soft ears.

"That will be troublesome in the future... Ah, I'm completely human Mister, but for some reason I've been growing this strange kind of stuff....It would be best to not mention Void at the moment..."

"I see.....you've probably been cursed or something, what's your name kid?"

"Ah, I'm Felix Bardon, and you, Mister?"

Hmmm, his last name wasn't one of the major noble houses....could he be one of the rare talents from the lower noble houses?

"My name is Zale, and before you ask for my last name, I don't have one, I'm an orphan."

Zale tensed slightly, prepared for the usual scathing remarks that came with the realization of his true nature, his status as an orphan was one of the main reasons he had agreed to destroy Dagda, whose standards he actually admired. Orphans are considered the lowest of the low and weren't even given the opportunity to test into a school, despite that he had endeavored and in the end reached this level through his own perseverance. Still, because of his birth, no one would stand behind him and support him so he was forced to bow to the wishes of the nobles.

"Ah, that's awesome, Mister! I'm a commoner myself, so it's already impressive for me to reach this level, but for you to reach your level of strength all on your own is truly extraordinary!"

Warmth began to spread in Zale's heart, this was the first time someone had reacted so positively to his past.....wait, the kid was a commoner? How had he managed to get into Dagda with it's changed rules? Even if he showed considerable promise, as a commoner his level still wouldn't have been strong enough to qualify him to get into Dagda, right?

"Hey kid, what was your level when you were first tested?"

"Ah, the test showed I was Middle rank Gale mana and S-s-storm ki.....but what do you mean by first tested? Does that mean that there are other times we are tested?"

The kid's talent was truly uprecedented for a commoner, but how did he not now about testing? Every school was required to test their students once a year, and to reach comet level, he would have had to spend several years at Dagda in the least......

"Kid, how long have you been in school?"

"This is my first year, why?"

....A Monster, to rise ranks so quickly, the boy was a monster! How far would his unnatural rise go? His talent is even higher than what mine would have had to be, I only reached Comet level when I was twenty, though with proper guidence, I would have probably reached it at about twelve......Yet he reached it at seven! That's something that had never happened!

"H-hey kid, how would you like to be my apprentice? I would really like to see how far you can go with your unprecedented talent. This Mister is quite skilled at creating spells that no one knows how to counter."

The advantage of figuring everything else is that no one knows the counter for the new spell you come up with. That thought brought his mind back to why he was even here. Dagda! How had they managed to break his binding! No one should know the key to releasing their seals, especially since he had made every seal different just in case! The boy's voice broke him out of his confused thoughts.

"Apprentice? Heh, that might be an interesting development, hey mister, do you want to come to my place so we can discuss this more deeply?"

"Eh? Kid, can you even FIND your way home?"

"Ahaha, of course Mister! That's what the whole focus of my recent training has been about, and my new ears are helping my pick through sound a lot better as well! I was just heading there now, we're actually quite close!"

Well, the kid at least seemed more confident in finding the school than he did......Zale settled his hand on the kid's shoulder.

"Lead on....wait, what is on your shoulder!"

Cool scales slid under his touch, along with the brush of a line of soft fur.

"Ah, that's just my pet, his name is Void."

Zale sent out his senses to check out the Felix's pet.

"F-Felix, your pet is a High Rank magical beast!"

"Ne~ I saved this little guy from a magical beast when he was weaker, and he ended up growing to this level, but really Mister Zale, you wouldn't be surprised if you knew how much grief the little parasite has put me through over the years..."

Zale let out an exasperated sigh......not matter how much grief is given, it should be nothing in the face of having a high rank beast loyal to you, most people would kill for such a thing, yet this little kid didn't seem to care at all......

".........The more I find out about you, the scarier your potential becomes........"

Felix grabbed his wrist, his small hand barely covering half of it, causing his hand to slide off his shoulder, and began tugging it forward.

"Eh, you'll get used to it, let's go Mister, I can't Wait to see how how my teachers react to bringing you to school~"

Something soft once again brushed against his arm.......were those wings?..........Ah, well, the kid was right, he was starting to get used to it.

They trudged through the loose sand for about an hour, Felix never wavering in his course.

"Ah! Here it is....But the gates are closed.....Could that guy have not realized I've arrived?"

How in the world could he tell that? Were they that close? Zale stretched his arm out, trying to feel the gate, his fingers met empty air. Nope, not near to the gate....

"Hey Felix, I'll open the gate, take me to it."

"Ah, no need for you to open it, Mister~"

Felix pulled him several meters forward and stopped, Zale stretched his hand out and felt warm wood beneath his hand. How had the kid been able to tell they were closed from that far away? Felix knocked loudly on the gate.

"Ne~ Arvid! How dare you ignore me, open up!"

Just as Zale was wondering how this Arvid was, the gates swung open under his palm, and a nervous voice rang around him.

"Ahaha, s-sorry Boss, I was a bit distracted with things......U-um, who is this guy with you?"

Felix pulled him forward and Zale felt the effects of the blindness spell vanish. He looked down to finally see what Felix looked like.

Gold eyes stared blankly in his direction, set in an adorable tanned face that was tilted up at him, long white hair framed Felix's face, trailing down to his waist, where it ended with gold tips. Gold ears poked out of the hair on the top of Felix's head, and fluffy gold wings fluttered softly behind him. A long white tail with a gold tip danced proudly through the air. The simple black clothes he wore only magnified the effect of his appearance.

......C-cute! Is this really a little boy!?

A small lizard poked it's head out of Felix's curtain of hair, it had smooth black scales, gold claws, and an adorable strip of fluffy fur running from the top of it's head down it's spine, running in between a pair of wings that were a miniature version of Felix's wings.

......No high rank beast should look so cute!!!

Felix turned his head away and spoke once more.

"Ah, this is a Special guest I brought for the teachers, Ne~ Where are they right now?"

Zale looked around for who he was talking to, but he saw no one in the courtyard beyond the gates. The strange voice rang out once more with no discernible source.

"Ah, it's lunchtime, so they're all gathered in the teachers' dinning hall"

Felix smiled sweetly, causing Zale's heart beat to quicken slightly.

"Perfect, that means I won't have to waste time gathering them together~"

Felix began to walk forward with a light spring in his step, gesturing for Zale to follow. They wound through several long stone hallways before arriving at a sturdy set of oak double doors. Felix easily pushed them open without even bothering to knock. He walked confidently into the room with Zale trailing in behind him.

"Hello everyone, I've brought someone I know you'll be delighted to see~"